NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with Stephen Koepfer of the Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York.

On March 6, the Coalition held a rousing demonstration in front of the Manhattan office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has not taken a public position on the issue of ending the ban on MMA. This was followed by the first-ever Mixed Martial Arts Documentary Film Festival, which took place at the world-famous Madison Square Garden.

We spoke by phone Friday with Stephen Koepfer about how this rally, the second annual one held by the Coalition, represented a step forward in this battle to legalize MMA in New York. Many more New Yorkers seemed both aware of this issue and supportive of ending the MMA ban than even last year, he said. We discussed the attempt by UFC to counter this rally by holding a news conference in New York at the same time as it for a show two months away in New Jersey. We also discussed many ideas for continuing and broadening this struggle as this onerous ban on MMA is now in its fifteenth year, and much more.

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ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.

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The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.